Chicago Bears tight end Colston Loveland knows better than most, which includes his current teammates, what kind of player Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy is.
The Bears and Vikings will face off for the 128th time in the regular season in Week 1 of the 2025 season, and their “Monday Night Football” showdown will feature a pair of former teammates in prominent roles in Loveland and McCarthy.
The duo also won a national championship together in college at Michigan in 2023.
Bears’ Colston Loveland Offers Telling Take on Vikings’ J.J. McCarthy
Bears TE Colston Loveland: J.J. McCarthy a ‘Good Quarterback’
“I feel like he’s a good quarterback,” Loveland told Clocker Sports on Friday. “Runs the system well. Hits what he’s supposed to hit. Doesn’t do too much, doesn’t do too [little]. But I know our defense got a good game plan for him, and we’re going to go get after him.”
Loveland was the Bears’ first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. McCarthy was one of two first-round selections by the Vikings in 2024 (EDGE Dallas Turner was the other).
Notably, both players were selected with the 10th overall pick in their respective classes.
Despite the one-year gap, it will be the regular-season debut for both players. McCarthy missed his rookie season with a torn meniscus, leaving much about who he is as a player unknown, particularly at the NFL level.
If Loveland’s sentiments prove prescient, then the Vikings could decide instead to lean on their revamped offensive line (much like the Bears’) and running game.
Whatever the case, Loveland and the Bears believe in their approach.
Bears Prepared to ‘Adjust’ in Week 1
Loveland was correct in that the Bears’ defense has a plan for McCarthy. However, according to Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, that plan hinges on their ability to “adjust” on the fly to what they see from the second-year quarterback.
Allen said “first and foremost,” the Bears must “prepare for the system,” which is masterminded by head coach Kevin O’Connell, one of the top play-callers in the league.
The key, then, in every season is to “prepare for the unexpected.”
“You have to prepare for unscouted looks. We’re going to see something that we haven’t seen yet. And so, we really got to be able to prepare for the system. And then, we’ve got to be ready to adjust,” Allen said before practice on Friday.
“Teams that are able to adjust the best within the game, those are the teams that usually have the most success. And so, in particular with J.J., we obviously studied him coming out. We got a chance to see him in a couple of preseason games. And yet, we don’t have a lot of film on him. So, we’ll have to be ready to adjust and see how they’re trying to call the game with him.”
Loveland, McCarthy, and the Wolverines rode a stout defense and imposing running game to a championship, the school’s first since 1997.
The Vikings have the roster to operate similarly, or open it up if McCarthy proves capable.
If that happens, then the Bears had better hope Loveland is right about his defensive teammates being ready to get after his former teammate, lest he and his new cohorts start the season with a loss to an NFC North rival.